When Equivalent Exchange is Subjective
by ruby star sorceress
Summary: The Gate doesn't want your life, Edward Elric. It wants you to fulfill your destiny in another world. Perhaps, equivalent exchange and 'price' are subjective. Dropped into a world where Devil Fruit users and pirates dominate, how will he survive?FULLSUM-
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

Summary: The Gate doesn't want your life, Edward Elric. It wants you to fulfill your destiny in another world…perhaps. Equivalent exchange is so subjective. Ha. There are so many worlds out there, though. The one that needs you now… is the world where Devil Fruits and pirates dominate. Will you accomplish what this world needs you to do? Or will you die before you can return to your own world?

During the huge battle in Central, Hohenheim sacrificed his life to defeat the one the homunculi called Father. Making use of the fact that the Gate manifested itself physically in underground Central, Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, used his own life force to negotiate with the Gate to try and return Alphonse his body. However, negotiations don't always go well, especially if the one you're trying to negotiate with has the name of Truth/the Gate. Equivalent exchange can be subjective, eh? The Gate fulfills his wish, but at a different price.

Author's Note: I haven't been writing fiction for 7-8 years already. Please bear with me for funny phrases and quirky ideas. I hope to create a non-typical One Piece – FMA crossover that my readers will enjoy. Read and review! Thank you

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Arakawa Hiromu. One Piece belongs to Oda Eiichiro.

Chapter 1: Prologue

A young golden-eyed boy lay against a wooden surface, unmoving. He could see nothing. Surrounding him was only the darkness.

_Eehhh_… a strained voice seemed to echo throughout the cave of his mind.

_Why can't I see anything? _His thoughts rang loudly in the deafening silence.

_Crap. My body, it won't move. What the heck? Oh crap!!_

With a jolt of realization, one Edward Elric suddenly remembered the situation.

_Flashback_

During the battle with the one they called _Father _and his homunculus, Hohenheim had sacrificed his life to save them all. Being a living Philosopher's Stone, he was the only one who had enough energy to counter the activation of the transmutation circle that spanned the country. When the country-wide transmutation failed, it backfired and caused _Father's _body, or rather container, to break down. Unable to regenerate like it always did, the souls contained within it quickly escaped and returned to the Gate where they should have been since the lives of the Xerxians were extinguished.

The cycle of life and death was so. When humans die, their material bodies return to the Earth. Their souls return to the Gate, where they form a stream of life force, or life energy. This was the same energy that Xing's alkahestry made use of. This energy then gave life to new beings, newborn humans, animals and plants alike.

Ed never had much contact with his father and always claimed to have hated him for leaving their mother. Yet, when he was all alone at night, thinking, he had no choice but to admit to himself that Hohenheim might really have been a significant part of his life. Learning alchemy, transmutation… the old man was good at everything he was not. Maybe that was why he always tried to deny his sentiments for him. He had always been in awe of his father, but he would die rather than admit that to anybody, including his dear brother Al. Although, Al probably knew what he was thinking all along anyways.

All the homunculus had been annihilated together with _Father_. While they mourned the loss of Hohenheim, there were still things to be done. The Gate, which had opened up in the middle of Underground Central, was highly unstable. If left alone, it could possibly start to drain the life force of Amestrian creatures, in an attempt to stay open. Hohenheim had warned them of the possible scenarios they might face even after _Father _was defeated. Hence, they were prepared.

Al's blood seal had already started to weaken prior to the battle. They all knew that the only way to solve the problem for real was to allow his soul to return to his original body, but that was still trapped within the Gate. With his years of experience and knowledge, Hohenheim had once spoken to Edward alone regarding that matter, without letting Alphonse know.

Hohenheim had said, "There will only be one chance to negotiate with the Gate, that is, when it has clearly manifested itself physically in this world. But then again, the Gate hasn't been known to be cool with negotiations. Worst case scenario, the negotiator could lose his life. That's you, Ed. You have to be prepared." The words were objective, but from the tone of his voice, you could hear the worry and care that Hohenheim rarely showed. His voice had already cracked on saying the word 'life'. At the time, Edward only nodded with a steely gaze.

That day, he was prepared for the worst case scenario. He knew what he had to do, and he was going to do it.

He knew it might just consume his life doing whatever he was about to do, but he wasn't about to falter because he was scared of death. If anything, he felt relief that he was finally able to do what he'd been trying to achieve even before joining the military as a dog. He would finally be able to help Al get his body back. Previously it had literally cost him an arm and a leg in negotiating with the Gate. This time, it could cost his life.

He looked to the side, where Mustang was. It was taking all the black-haired man's effort just to stand at the side. Edward had, for the first and only time ever, begged him not to interfere when the time came. He gritted his teeth and made himself look. _This could be the last time I see this puny subordinate of mine. Heh._ _This had better go well, Fullmetal. _

Their eyes met and thoughts were exchanged silently. _Heh. Of course, you flame maniac. You had better become a damn good Fuhrer._ Then he finally clapped his gloved hands together and slapped them down, one on himself and one on the blood seal. A bright white light slowly began to engulf him and the Gate.

_End flashback_

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!! Okay wait. I gotta stay calm. Why can't I see or feel anything?_ He paused in his thoughts.

_I'm not breathing. _He realized.

_I_. _Have. To. Breathe!! Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out…_

The youth's lungs began to fill up with oxygen and the scent of salt, wait no, sea water. With a snap, his eyelids opened. _Wow, what a blue sky…_ He thought in awe. _Yeah right…_

_Why the heck am I in a barrel that's floating on the sea!? No way in the world that I'm still in underground Central. I…I still have my automail limbs. They weren't taken by the Gate. I'm breathing and I'm thinking. This has to mean that I'm alive, right? Does that mean that Al is..? No. No. No. Think positive. Al's obviously not here. Where is he then? Has he gotten his body back? Or..?_

His thoughts were interrupted by a wave of seawater which rocked the barrel sideways, almost overturning it. He gingerly stuck his head out to reconfirm his surroundings.

_What the… _His golden eyes only grew larger and larger as he began to realize his very peculiar situation.

The Fullmetal Alchemist was now floating alone in a wooden barrel in the middle of the sea. And in this sea there were clouds. Not small fluffy clouds, but huge tumbling clouds which made up the bulk of the sea.

In the distance there was an island. It looked like there were many windmills on the ground and wind vanes sticking to the top of houses. The shapes of the houses were even stranger still.

But the strangest thing had nothing to do with the physical landscape of the island. It was the silhouette of a woman who was spinning a blue pole of sorts. Was she was creating lightening and clouds out of nowhere?!

The orange-haired lady spun on her heel to peer into the direction of the sea, as though she felt somebody watching her. Her facial features rearranged themselves into a look of surprise as she saw the figure of a head sticking out of a floating barrel.

"Gramps!! WE HAVE A SITUATION HERE!" her voice carried all the way out to sea and inland as people started shuffling out of their houses to the beach where she was.

"Uh.......?" was all Edward Elric could think of as he watched the commotion build up on the distant island.


	2. Chapter 2 Meet the Navigator

Author's Note: Read, enjoy and review! I'd like to know what you think of the length of the chapters and feel free to throw me any ideas you may like to see in this story 'cos I'll need all the inspiration I can get! Thank you

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Arakawa Hiromu. One Piece belongs to Oda Eiichiro.

Chapter 2: Meet the Navigator

Edward blinked. Standing in front of him was the woman who called herself Nami. She was the one he had seen spinning the blue pole on the beach earlier. His savior, of sorts, you could say. An old man wearing a peculiar hat stood next to her. He was the first to speak.

"'choo… 'choo… what'ya say yer name was again?" he said as he pointed a wrinkled finger at him.

"My name is Ed, Edward Elric." Ed coughed. "Thanks for saving my life out there."

"What were you doing all the way out there in a barrel, anyway? Barrels aren't the most efficient nor safe mode of sea transport in this world, you know?" Nami said.

_What should I say? _He contemplated. _I don't even know where I am. This obviously isn't Amestris. I hardly think that this is Xing either. Maybe another country? What was the Gate thinking, anyway? Throwing me out into a SEA out of all things? Cool. Way cool. _He thought sarcastically and snorted. _Best that I don't say anything first, and find out where I am. For all I know, I'm in some country where alchemists are public enemies or something. And can I even still perform alchemy here? _

"Hey, you. What's so funny, eh?" Nami clucked her tongue twice with an irritated look.

"We save your puny little life, and all you do is snort?" She said, unwittingly triggering a certain SHORT fuse that somebody had.

"HEY WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORTER THAN A PIECE OF MICROSCOPIC BACTERIA!!???" came a sudden unexpected outburst.

"Why you…" He struggled to stand up and fell back down onto the chair again. His automail leg was working fine, but his other leg still had that prickly pins-and-needles sensation from being curled up in that barrel for too long.

A vein popped on Nami's head. "Why, the nerve of this brat! Heh. We didn't say a thing about you being small. Hehhh... sensitive to SHORT comments, are you? Now that you mention it, you're even shorter than that little 10 year-old kid living down a few houses! HA! HA! HA! SHORTIEEEEEE!" she said with a smirk.

A look of great satisfaction settled on her face as she observed that the golden-haired youth appeared to start shaking with rage, more veins popping out on his forehead.

"I AM NOT SHORT. WHY, THANK YOU FOR SAVING MY LIFE but IT SURE IS NOT SMALLER THAN THE EGG OF AN ANT THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE." He huffed.

"All right, all right. Little boy, now you calm down and look here. Do you know where 'dis place is?" the old man moved closer, staring the unknowing youth down.

Edward took in his surroundings again. This place was really weird. He had noticed before that the sea was cloudy. What the heck, cloudy!? And the house he was in now was built with some kind of strange material which felt and smelt like mushrooms. All the houses he saw outside before being carried in seemed to be made of this same material, and the other strange thing was that all the houses appeared to have something that looked like a wind vane attached to the top of their roofs. Not to mention all the windmills on the ground.

_This place is waayyyy strange. I have to figure out how to get back to Amestris soon. Al must be worried. Maybe these people will know what to do._ He mused for a while, then answered, "Where is this, exactly? It's not Amestris, that's for sure."

"Ahm-es-to-ri-su? Where's dat? Another island? Did you run away from your country in a barrel?" the old man paused, scratching his head.

"'dis island is what people call a Sky Island. We're in the sky, boy. This is Weatheria, or Weather Island, and I'm the chief of this village. People call me Ooki-jii." He thought for a while, then continued.

"You 'bin out at sea too long, now? I doon think dat 'dere is a Ahm-es-to-ri-su Island nearby. You need a Log Pose to navigate anyways? Where's yours, and where're you from?" he queried with a look of interest.

Nami stepped forward, interested to hear the young traveler's story. Maybe he knew something about what was going on in the rest of the world now.

_Flashback/ Nami's story_

It had been 2 weeks since she lost all contact with the rest of the Straw Hat crew. She thought it was the end when that monster of a Shichibukai, Barthomelow Kuma, blasted them off one by one to oblivion with his gigantic hand-paws. Amazingly, though, she regained consciousness after 2 days and found herself on this funny island, in some old man's house. She later found out that said funny island was Weather Island, a Sky Island with the most advanced technology with regards to weather reading and manipulation in the world.

The old man who had taken her in was Ooki-jii, the chief. He said that he had found her lying unconscious in the middle of the village, in a large paw-shaped crater in the ground. She was covered with horrible injuries. At the time, a huge storm was about to brew so he had brought her back to his house first.

When she first awoke, she was very skeptical of the old man, who insisted she stay indoors to avoid the large storm outside. She had attempted to follow him when he exited, only to be blown back by the strong winds. She remembered being absolutely shocked when the old man continued to walk on against the direction of that monstrous wind. She then had no choice but to retreat into the house and demand for explanations later. She was amazed when he showed her the various weather instruments they had on the Island, like the Wind-Knot, which could store differing levels of wind and be released by unknotting.

Upon contemplation, perhaps Barthomelow meant to save the Straw Hat crew instead of eliminating them. Since she was well and alive, probably so were the rest! Chopper, Franky, Robin, Sanji, Zoro, Brooks, Luffy… where were they now? Probably been blasted off to other islands too? Had this perhaps something to do with Barthomelow's question, "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you want to go?"

For the past 2 weeks, the people on Weatheria had been extremely busy. A Marine Inspector was scheduled to come soon. His arrival meant two things. First off the list was the official Weatherman Exam, which would allow the young weatherman trainees to obtain their Weatherman License. Said group of young weathermen trainees was therefore busy preparing for it. The other concern involved the whole island, for the official Marine Inspector was also going to assess the weather technologies they possessed. If they weren't up to expected standards, the island could well be threatened by the World Government for slacking off. Such was the tyranny of the World Government that they had to put up with for years._ To hell with claims of justice and peace._

Nobody dared to stand up to the World Government. There were rumors that the Marines, the lackeys of the World Government, had the power to wipe countries off the world map if they so wished. These rumors had to possess some truth, for the people of Weather Island knew of a nearby island who seemed to just vanish one day. That island was once known as Ohana.

The island of Ohana used to be one of the islands geographically closer to Weather Island. One day, though, the island and its inhabitants just disappeared, with no trace that there had ever existed such an island.

Having said that, Weather Island possessed the best weather technologies and techniques in the whole world and hence were unlikely to be wiped off the world map any time soon.

Nami could sympathize with the people of Weather Island, as she thought back to the days Arlong and his gang had threatened her village, and the Marines did nothing about it. It was all thanks to Luffy that she managed to get out of that horrible situation and even begin to think about pursuing her dreams. Back in those days, she would never even have dared to believe in anybody. Today, though, she was a changed woman.

The people of Weather Island were shocked to know about her situation. Majority of them sympathized with her, though a small group suggested they throw her out into the sea before the Marines found out they were harboring an international criminal with a bounty of 16, 000, 000 beri. They were quickly shut up by Ooki-jii. They promised to help her find information on the rest of the crew and the going-ons in the outside world if they could. Till she found a way to get back to her crew, she would help out with the preparations they were so busy with, and hide when the Marine Inspector was to come.

_End flashback/ Nami's story_

The young boy sitting in front of her piqued her curiosity. Not only did this boy have a metal arm and leg, but he was also found, by her, floating in a barrel in the sea out over the horizon. If she hadn't felt that prickling sensation at the back of her neck that she got when she felt watching eyes, she wouldn't even have noticed that there was somebody just _floating _out there.

_He seems to be hiding something. Not intentionally, perhaps. Seems more like it's out of caution. I wonder what happened to him. Usually you wouldn't just grab a barrel, sit in it and row yourself out to sea, would you? Haha. And he's kinda funny to tease. _Nami thought as she smiled widely.

"Yup, boy. What's your story? I'd like to know too, ya know? Savior privileges, I believe?" she teased.

_Log Pose? What's that? Crap, I really don't know anything about this place at all. _Edward looked up and gave a sigh.

_These people saved me. They can't be that bad, can they? Life's a gamble, anyway. That woman may have problems with her eyesight, what with her calling me SMALLER THAN A PEA, but she has kind and strong eyes. The old man too. What'd he call himself again? Ooki-jii?_ _Haha kind of ironic that he calls himself Ooki, he's shorter than me! _He thought as he stared at the two people in front of him.

_I should probably trust my own judgment, right? Maybe I should probably introduce myself properly._

He cleared his throat. "My name is Edward Elric. I'm a State Alchemist from Amestris. People call me the Fullmetal Alchemist. Perhaps you've heard of me?" he stated proudly.

Nami and Ooki-jii looked at each other questioningly and shrugged.

"Like we asked, where's this Ah-mes-to-ri-su that you're talking about? It sure ain't anywhere near here, you know? We're above the Blue Sea, in the White Sea. There aren't that many Sky Islands around, so we know most of them if they're close by. I don't think I've heard of your country though. What're you being so cocky about anyway? Ehhhhh??" Nami scrunched her nose as she explained.

"Amestris. Military nation, with State Alchemists as dogs of the military? I'm originally from Resembool though. Re-sem-bool. Heard of that?" Edward struggled to explain, beginning to worry.

"Not a clue. Hm." Nami said. "Ooki-jii, you ever heard of Ah-mes-to-ri-su or Re-sim-bu-ru?"she asked.

_Interesting. This could be a new island to map once I know where it is! _Nami thought with relish.

"Like I said, I don't know any Ah-mes-to-ri-su around here. Listen, I've been here for the last 65 years of my life an' I've never heard of this place you are talking about, boy." Ooki-jii grunted.

Edward furrowed his brow in worry. _It seems Amestris is nowhere near here. Furthermore, this island seems to be surrounded by water, water and more water. With my automail, I can't go anywhere without a ship. _He sighed.

"I don't know how I got here. But I need to know how to go back home to Amestris. I'm sure Al's waiting for me."

_Unless the Gate has taken him away already. _ An inner voice interjected.

_No way. Shut up, me. We did all the necessary calculations and I even offered my life up to the Gate. Since I'm still alive, the Gate must have something else in mind. Maybe this has something to do with my being here..Hm..but then again..._He thought to himself, then continued.

"How could you not have heard of Alchemy? Renkinjutsu. Transmutation?" Edward scratched his head.

He slowly stood up and steadied himself. Spotting a broken cup on the table next to him, he grabbed it and put in on the floor.

"Look." He clapped his hands together in a practised motion and slapped them on the cup. A bright blue flash appeared and the cup looked as good as new.

_Thank goodness! I was so worried Alchemy might not work here. My worries were unfounded. Phew_. Edward let out a small sigh of relief as he finished.

"What the heck did you just do? Are you a Devil Fruit user!?" Nami exclaimed as she took a step back.

_What the heck did he do? I haven't seen any ability like that before! Can this even be classified under Logia, Parmecia or Zoan? What…_ Nami thought, flabbergasted.

"Explain yourself, Edward Elric, if that's even your real name!" Nami said.

"What? That was Alchemy. Didn't I just say? I'm a State Alchemist." Edward explained.

"It seems that we have encountered a new kind of ability here."Ooki-jii interjected. "It doesn't seem like this kind of power can be classified under any of the Devil Fruit categories, unless it's an unknown category." His voice trailed off as he continued to stare at his broken cup, now fixed.

_Why do they seem so surprised? Is Alchemy not practised here? _Edward thought. _And I wonder what they mean by Devil Fruit. You eat fruits, right? How do you get powers from eating fruits? It doesn't make sense. Back in Amestris they used to try and con me into drinking milk, that dastardly fluid, by saying that it would give you powers and increase your height. Thank goodness I never fell for that. Ha._

"Maybe it's just uncommon in this part of the world? I still need to know how to get back… Sorry to ask this so suddenly, but do you have any information? Maybe just general information about this area and its surroundings, and maybe about what's going on around in the world now?" Edward asked, thinking about the commotion caused back in Central. Surely the country would be a furor right about now, with King Bradley gone. Mustang had better do what he set out to do properly - become the Fuhrer and change the country, eh?

Ooki-jii cleared his throat, breaking Nami out of her trance. "It seems 'dat this boy's problem is the same as yours, Nami-san. You both need information and want to find the people that you care about." He turned to Nami.

He said thoughtfully, "I don't know who or what brought you here, but I believe 'dere's a reason for everything. So perhaps you two have to work together to reach your goals. What say you?"

Thinking for a while, Nami answered, "Why not? I need to find Luffy and the rest soon too."

_It wouldn't hurt to have somebody with unknown powers tagging along with me while I do that. Heh. _She added in her thoughts.

"All right. But you had better not make any more inappropriate comments, woman." Edward decided.

"Sure thing, shortie." She answered with a smirk.

Following which, a roar lasting several minutes echoed throughout the house made up of mushroom.


	3. Chapter 3 A Short Spar and A Newspaper

Author's Note: A big thank you to those who reviewed! :D Since you've asked, I've no pairings in mind so far :O Just going by how I feel as I write :) For those who are interested, the scene where Nami fell into Weatheria can be found in the anime, Episode 418. I kept the main ideas there as a guideline, but the rest of the story is improvised. As for Ed, I picked up from the FMA storyline somewhere around Chapter 100 of the manga. Suggestions are certainly welcome! So then, chapter 3's here, so read, enjoy and review! Thank you

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Arakawa Hiromu. One Piece belongs to Oda Eiichiro.

Chapter 3: A Short Spar and A Newspaper

An orange-haired lady stood on the beach, spinning a blue pole called the Clima Tact. Roughly fifteen meters away from her was the youth with piercing golden eyes. Their clothes swayed with the strong wind that was blowing.

"This will be a good time to test out the upgrade on Clima Tact," she thought aloud.

_Let's see… The engineer, Meso-san, said that the extra knots he installed in the Clima Tact will allow it to store up power faster and release different levels of attack power if I want to, right? Gyah where're the knots? Hmm… oh yea, here they are! _

Nami dismantled the three-piece bo-staff and extracted the yellow, white and green ropes within. They were knotted several times. The knots or each rope, when undone, would release differing levels of power in wind, electricity and water seeds respectively. In this way she could more precisely adjust the levels of attack power she wanted to unleash. The maximum attack power had also increased greatly since the adjustment.

Weatheria's engineering team had offered to help upgrade her weapon in exchange for her help around the island, even though Nami felt that she didn't really do anything.

"Just kick the World Government's butts when you get outta here, ya hear us?" they had chortled after passing the baton back to her.

"Heh, Edward, show me what you've got, or you'll be eaten up like strawberry shortcake!" she said.

"Heat Ball, and also, Cool Ball!" she said as transparent red and blue spheres began to float out of the ends of the poles.

Several veins popped out on Edward's forehead on hearing 'short'.

"You want to fight!?" he shouted. "I don't usually fight girls, but if you keep spreading these horrible lies, I'm not going to hold back!!!"

"Heheh. You're so easy to read, Ed." she grinned.

"You look like a fighter to me. Show me what you can do, why don't you?" taunted Nami.

"Don't regret it, you overgrown orange!" He seethed as he dashed forward.

Within two meters of her, his gloved hands clapped together in a practised motion and slapped the sandy floor. Flashes of blue lightning crackled as they rushed forward in the sand, which suddenly rose up to form a giant fist.

Sensing danger, Nami instinctively backstepped a couple of times, just in time to dodge the enormous hand that would have punched her right into the sky. Her eyes widened.

_So his combat ability is pretty strong. Looks like I was right. So his ability to mend broken cups can be used to fight too eh? Heheh. Interesting. But I'm not gonna lose to you, man. I got my pride as a pirate too. One of the Straw Hat Pirates. _She thought as she quickly undid two knots and chucked the now triangular-shaped Clima Tact to the cloud that had formed from the interaction between the Heat Balls and Cool Balls.

"Thunderstorm Tempo!" she yelled. "Plus two knots. Take that!"

Lightning crashed down from the thunderclouds, destroying the giant fist in a flash. More lightning continued to strike in the area, causing Edward to move backward to avoid being hit. Fortunately he moved, for at the next moment, rain began to fall from the same clouds. If he was drenched while in the range of those clouds, chances of getting hit were much higher. Water conducts electricity, after all.

"Heh, not too bad, are you?" he acknowledged. "But I'm better!" In another mad rush forward, he clapped his hands together and slapped the ground, subsequently pulling a glass spear out of the whirling sand.

"Not done yet! Don't forget the knots! Ha!" Nami cheered, as the stored gusts of wind blew the thunderclouds further and made them expand larger, widening the range of the attack.

"Gooo!! Get him!" she shouted, as Edward's eyes widened in horror.

The looming thunderclouds were getting bigger and closer. There was nowhere to run.

_Shit! _He thought. _I'm not gonna let you get me like that. I'm not done yet!_

Thinking of the appropriate alchemical equations, the golden-haired youth quickly clapped his hands together and slammed them onto the sand as he felt the energy rush through his body. Layers of dome-shaped cement began to rise and form above him, acting as multi-layered shields.

As soon as the clouds grew to their maximum range of about 15 meters in diameter, lightning crashed down onto the shields as soon as they were formed. The shields were destroyed as easily as the giant fist before was. Huge clouds of dust erupted from the explosion.

Having anticipated a forceful rebound, Nami had placed herself just outside the range of the thunderclouds. Sprays of debris flew her way as she lifted her hands up to shield herself from the blast.

As the dust went into her throat, she started to cough intermittently. Gradually but surely, the dust cloud began to settle. Nami looked up.

_Sorry, Edward. I had to do what I had to do. I hope he's not injured too badly._ She thought as she lifted up a foot to step forward. Her eyes peered through the cloud. _Where is he? Lying down somewhere, is he..?_

The dust settled. The boy was nowhere to be seen.

_Wha, what? _Were her thoughts before she felt a sharp tip poke the back of her neck.

"Yo. Checkmate." Came a mellow voice that she only knew too well by now. The alchemist had won. His glass spear was pointed directly at the back of Nami's neck.

"You almost got me there, lady. Thank goodness I ran away in the midst of all that dust. Ha." He grinned as he lowered his spear. "You're not too bad, eh?"

"Wow." Nami said, as she let out a whistle. "Speak for yourself. You're not too bad either, eh?"

"Truce?" he asked.

"Yeah, truce." She agreed.

The two shook hands and began walking back to the town.

_End Fight (:_

Overhead, a tired-looking pelican flew by as something dropped from its beak. It continued to fly in the direction of the town.

"What's this?" Edward asked as the 'something' dropped into his hands. It was the most recent copy of the Grand Line Times. Attached to the back of the paper was a slightly faded copy of the previous issue of the same paper.

"That's the Grand Line Times, the newspaper for anyone travelling these seas. It only gets published when there're newsworthy stories. But what I've heard is that the content is heavily censored by the World Government, ya know? They only allow the publishing of news reports which put themselves in a good light. Tch." Nami said as she let loose a snort of disgust.

"But this time, it may help us to get the information that we want. I doubt that the incident at Sabaody Archipelago could be fully covered up. They might give some kind of a fake cover story, but at least it's information we'll get. Let me take a look at that." She tucked the pieces of her Clima Tact away before putting her hands out to take the paper.

"Ehh… so the media here assimilates information by birds? Weird stuff, I gotta say. Kind of strange, though. Why'd they send two different issues in one delivery? Shouldn't the delivery have been done separately? The one at the back looks older."Edward mused.

"Ha. I've heard from Ooki-jii, Meso-san and the rest of the people here, that Weatheria sometimes receives outdated copies of the newspaper. Because it's a Sky Island, I guess it's harder for the delivery boys, the pelicans heh, to fly all the way up here from wherever they came from. That little one over there does seem pretty tired to me. Speaking of weird, you haven't seen anything yet." The two ends of her cherry lips curved upward as she thought of the Den-Den Mushi. _Wait till he sees the Den-Den Mushi. If he doesn't know about anything here, he can't have known about those. Hoho._

Grabbing the more recent newspaper, her eyes widened in shock as she saw the headlines – AFTERMATH OF WHITEBEARD WAR AT MARINEFORD: WHITEBEARD AND FIRST-MATE PORTGAS D. ACE EXECUTED. STUNNING VICTORY FOR WORLD GOVERNMENT

Her mind started to whirl into a mess of inner voices.

_Portgas D. Ace. Ace, that's Luffy's brother who we met at Arabasta. What do they mean he's executed? He can't be. He was so strong. There must be a mistake somewhere._

_Shirohige, Whitebeard. Edward Newgate, said to be the strongest pirate in the Grand Line after Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Executed? Dead? Impossible. What the hell?_

Before she could organize her thoughts, another ominous thought entered her mind.

_Luffy. Where… what… does he know about this? Oh my god, no. If he knew, he would… he would… no he wouldn't. Luffy…_

Nami's legs turned wobbly and her hands slipped as the newspaper fell to the ground. She would have collapsed to the ground, if not for the person at her side who held her when she showed signs of falling.

"Nami? What's wrong?"he enquired.

"Nami? Nami-san? Are you okay?" There was no response from the girl who had been struck by a severe case of shock.

"Nami? Nami?" he shook her shoulders gently at first, then more violently until she began to stir.

"Wh- what?" her voice quavered. "I- I- I'm f-fine."

She shook her head to clear it. "I have to read the rest of this. It- It- It could be i-important."

With trembling hands, she picked up the fallen newspaper. By her side, a worried young alchemist held her gently in case she was going to fall. Her mind calmed down as her breathing slowly reached tandem with the one holding her. She continued to read.

_Out on the Grand Line_

On several other Islands on the Grand Line, a swordsman, a cook, a reindeer, a sniper, an archaeologist, a shipwright and a skeleton were experiencing the same kind of shock.

Author's Note: Hello, people! I just had to add another AN here at the end, though I don't know how many of you will actually read this. Rahhh I've been so depressed because close to nobody's reviewing my chapters . So, please, review!! !! !! :p


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